Talented opener K L Rahul displayed superb temperament but missed out on a well-deserved double century as he helped put India in a commanding position at 391 for 4 on the third day of the fifth cricket Test against England in Chennai on Sunday.
India are only 87 runs behind England with six wickets in hand and the penultimate day's proceedings will determine if there would be a result in the match.
Rahul, who hit a career-best 199, was on a record breaking spree en route his fourth Test hundred.
He came tantalisingly close to his maiden double hundred before a moment's laziness saw him slash a loopy leg break from Adil Rashid, straight into the hands of Jos Buttler.
So disappointed was Rahul that he found it difficult to drag himself back to the pavilion even as his captain Virat Kohli looked equally gutted.
His innings was the highest by an Indian opener against England at home since Budhi Kunderan's 192 at erstwhile Madras in 1964.
He faced 311 balls to hit 16 boundaries and three sixes of off spinners Liam Dawson and Moeen Ali.
An opening partnership of 152 with Parthiv Patel (71) set the perfect platform and it was utilised perfectly with another 161-run stand for the fourth wicket with Karun Nair (71 batting).
Both Parthiv and Karun also notched up their individual best in Test cricket.
Karun would also feel happy having made most of the third chance that he got after getting out cheaply in the first two Tests.
It was primarily due to Rahul that India scored 331 runs in 88 overs today despite their two prime performers in skipper Virat Kohli (15) and No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara (16) having a rare off day.
An elegant stroke player, Rahul did not have big scores (0,10 and 24) in the previous three innings since his comeback from hamstring injury. Not to forget he missed the Mohali Test due to a bruised forearm.
Having played cautiously on Saturday, Rahul was at his elegant best, striking some flowing drives and lofty sixes off Dawson.
Resuming their innings at 60-0, India produced a solid batting performance as Rahul and Parthiv complemented each other.
While Rahul took 96 balls to score his fifty, Parthiv achieved the feat in 84 deliveries as the duo shared a 152-run partnership for the opening wicket at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
It was spinner Moeen Ali, who finally broke the stand when he had Parthiv caught by Jos Butler at cover after the ’keeper-batsman tried to repeat a shot which had earned him a boundary earlier in the over.
Parthiv, who scored his second half ton of the series, played 112 balls hitting seven fours in the process.
After Parthiv's departure, Pujara joined Rahul and the duo scored 21 runs off 37 balls.
Earlier, Rahul made his intent clear in the morning when he blasted spinner Dawson for a couple of sixes at the long-off and long-on boundary.
The 24-year-old from Bangalore soon notched up his first half-century of the series by taking a couple in the 28th over off Stuart Broad. He then picked up a boundary off the pacer between the mid-on and midwicket area.
Parthiv also had sent one past the short midwicket area in the first ball off Broad for a four as the duo brought up the team hundred in 175 balls in the 30th over.
The openers continued to deal in boundaries with Rahul smashing Jake Ball through point and then sweeping Ali through square leg and Parthiv managing to tickle one past the wicketkeeper in Jake's over.
After a few silent overs, Parthiv hit Adil Rashid through covers for another four in the 37th over, while Rahul reverse swept Ali for another boundary in the next over.
In the 42nd over, the India wicketkeeper-batsman lifted Ali over midwicket for a boundary before falling to a similar shot in the fifth ball.
New man Pujara then warmed up with a couple of fours off Rashid in the 47th over.
It was a rare bad day for skipper Kohli, who hit a boundary in 29 balls.
There was a point in time when England captain Alastair Cook cordoned the entire off-side enticing the Indian captain to play his customary cover drives.
Stuart Broad (1/46 in 18 overs) bowled a delivery on drivable length and Kohli was caught in the cover region by Keaton Jennings.
Before Kohli, it was the dependable Pujara, who pushed hard at a Ben Stokes delivery that was moving away and Cook held onto a regulation slip catch.
Off-spinner Moeen Ali (1/96 in 24 overs) and Adil Rashid (1/76 in 17 overs) bowled bulk of the overs but were not effective with literally no help from the track. Moeen was smashed for 10 boundaries and a six.
Stokes (1/37) was also erratic occasionally.
With injured Murali Vijay (17 batting) coming in at No 6, India will hope to score quick runs and get a lead of 100 which would enable them to put pressure on England and go for a victory.
